Guinness World Records celebrate 70 years of record-breaking

Most ice cream scoops balanced on a cone record in 2018

Guinness World Records are celebrating 70 years of record-breaking achievements.

The first Guinness World Records (GWR) book was published on 27 August 1955.

Since then they have authenticated thousands of records in things like sport, technology, and the human body.

The varying records range from things like, most ice cream scoops on a cone to the fastest tortoise.

Read on to learn more about Guinness World Records and some of the iconic moments of its 70 year history.

And let us know in the comments below what record you think you could set...

What was the first Guinness World Record?

The first Guinness World Records book was published in 1955

The idea for the Guinness Book of Records first came about because of an argument over what the fastest game bird was.

While this never got answered, it led to the start of a book made up of lots of different records.

The first book was published in 1955. So there isn't just one single 'first' record, rather all the ones featured in the first book.

These include the biggest baby - at the time 20 lbs 2 oz (roughly 9.1kg) - the fastest elevator, which was 15.9 miles per hour in the Radio Corporation of America building in Rockefeller Plaza New York, and the longest beard which was nearly 12 feet (3.66m).

Who holds the most world records?

Ashrita Furman probably has the most Guinness World Record titles

While Guinness World Records no longer monitors who holds the most records, there is one name that stands out.

Ashrita Furman, from the US, has set more than 700 official Guinness Records since 1979 and currently holds more than 200 standing records.

His records include Longest time to hula hoop underwater, and Greatest distance travelled on a bicycle balancing a milk bottle on the head.

How do you become a Guinness World Record holder? What records are unclaimed?

Do you love making pasta necklaces? Maybe you have a chance of getting the record for the fastest time making one...

To become a Guinness World Record holder, a person must apply through GWR and make sure they follow the strict guidelines set by the organisation.

There is a database which has all the records, making it possible to see which ones you can apply to break.

If you would like to set a record by being the first to attempt it, you can suggest a record (though GWR says the vast majority of these are rejected).

Alternatively as part of the anniversary, Guinness World Records has made a list of 70 records which have yet to be attempted.

I'm afraid we can't list them all here, but here are some good ones to get you thinking:

• Fastest 400m sack race

• Farthest distance to bounce a coin into a cup

• Most high fives in 30 seconds

• Most headbands/sweatbands worn at once

There are also some records especially for under 16-year-olds:

• Fastest time to make a pasta necklace

• Most balloons blown up in one minute

• Most leapfrog jumps in one minute by a team of two

• Most origami cranes made in three minutes

Could you break any of these? Let us know in the comments!

What Guinness World Records have children broken?

Julian Pavone drummed up a world record!

While many records have a minimum age of 16, there are still lots that kids have been involved in.

Julian Pavone was just 4 years and 319 days old when he performed in his 20th concert on 29 March 2009 and became the world's youngest professional drummer.

His record has not yet been beaten!

Yiheng Wang set his first record at nine-years-old in 2023 in speedcubing - that's solving a Rubik's Cube as quickly as possible.

Since then, he has broken it six times and it currently stands at 4.03 seconds.

As of 5 April 2025 he also held the records for: Fastest time to solve a 3x3x3 rotating puzzle cube (3.08 seconds) and Fastest average time to solve a 2x2x2 rotating puzzle cube (0.88 seconds).

Ollie and Harry Ferguson from the UK got the record for the most travelled toy ship after logging 6,072.5 km (3,773.3 mi).

The brothers, then aged eight and five, went on to break their own record six years later.

One of the youngest world record holders is a one-year-old who was recognised as the world's youngest artist in 2024.

Ace-Liam from Ghana was just a one-year-old when his application was approved by GWR.

What record do you think you could set or break - let us know in the comments below.